Time Changes All rewritten
by hoshi-ni-onegai
Summary: Kaoru's childhood red-haired friend moves back into town. AU. KxK this is the rewritten first chapter of my old fic, I may rewrite the whole fanfic. we'll see, so currently treated as a one-shot


Author Notes: I had toyed with the idea of rewriting "Time Changes All" in my currently writing style (being that I cringe every time I look at it -come on, you can't deny that TCA is chock full of bad writing). But then I realized that would foreva and I didn't know if anyone would read it. So here is the first chapter, rewritten. Tell me what you think. If there is a high demand for this fanfic rewrite I might tackle that next.

Disclaimer: The _Rurouni Kenshin_ world and all characters depicted are a creation of mangaka, Watsuki Nobuhiro.

**I Can't Believe He's Back**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

Biting into a slightly burnt piece of toast Kaoru stared blankly at the television. The weatherman was going on and on about how the cold temperature outside was a small taste of the coming climate for the week. She frowned, she was not a fan of cold weather -and she found it highly unnecessary for there to be a man hired to talk on network television about it.

Finishing the last remnants of her toast, she pulled on her coat and bundled herself up. She grumbled, as she turned the television off, about how her school was ridiculous having a uniform where girls had to wear skirts all year round. Grabbing her school bag and her keys she left out the door of her single-person apartment.

Shivered all the way down the block until her heard the familiar voice of her close friend calling after her, "Jou-chan! Wait up!"

She turned to see the boy in question -Sano- and her other close friend, Misao, coming up to her. She smiled as she saw them running up to her. She had confidence that they could distract her enough from the weather.

"Hey guys," she looked at Sano's pants jealously. It was really the doings of a fascist society that forced her in a skirt in the middle of winter. "What did you guys do this weekend?"

Misao rolled her eyes and looped her arm through Kaoru's. "Don't even try to play innocent. I want to know about the date you had with Takaomi."

Sano raised an eyebrow and grinned, "Little Kaoru on a date. Look at you, all grown up and playing with boys."

Kaoru frowned, "There was no "playing" going on."

Sano laughed, "Come on, tell us how far you let that guy go. Did he get to round the bases or did he only get to first?"

Kaoru glared at her friend, he was anything but tactful. "I didn't even give him the chance to bat. Also, stop it with the sports metaphors. I'm not a nine-inning game to be won."

"What? You didn't even let him cop a feel? Show some pity toward the hormone raged kid."

She rolled her eyes then looked down at her watch. "Shit! It's five till eight!"

Making a break for the already visible gate, her friends took notice of the time and ran after her.

When they finally reached the classroom Kaoru unintentionally slammed the door open and saw that her teacher was already at the front of the room starting homeroom. Her teacher, Saitoh, was a man no one should cross.

Saitoh narrowed his eyes at them, "Thank you for gracing us with your presence. How about the three of you sit down, and you can tell me your excuses while you do three hundred extra strokes at kendo practice this afternoon." He looked back toward the class, "As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, we will be having a new student join our class today. He's waiting at the office, so take out your math homework while I go get him."

The moment Saitoh left the room, there was an audible sigh that went around the room. There was a certain amount of tension that came with having him as a teacher. Some of the students had theories that he had previously been a high ranking official in the military, and had left that life to pursue the career as a teacher to terrorize impressionable youth.

Kaoru tapped her pencil against her desk and leaned back on her chair, "I wonder if it's a boy or girl."

Sano shrugged, "What I want to know is what is a kid doing transferring schools this late in high school and at this time of year."

"Maybe he got kicked out of his old school."

"What? We're taking other school's rejects from now?"

Misao shook her head, "Who cares? What I want to know is what Kaoru did on her very first date."

Kaoru frowned, "It was not my first date."

Sano laughed, "A date and a kiss at age six doesn't count."

Kaoru narrowed her eyes. She was sure it counted in someone's book. Imagine all the six-year-olds in the world that would be terribly offended by Sano's comment.

"So how'd it go?" Misao questioned while sitting closer and closer to the edge of her seat.

She sighed, these two were not giving up anytime soon. And the more she dodged the question, the more they were going to make a big deal about nothing. "We went to a movie, a bad one I might add. Then he walked me home."

Sano frowned, "That's it? That's kinda boring."

Kaoru rolled her eyes, "I don't know what you expected, but I barely know the guy."

At that moment the door swung open and Saitoh walked in with long red haired boy trailing behind him. Or, Kaoru was pretty certain it was a boy. There was something delicate about him, and the only indication she could see of his possession of a Y chromosome was his uniform.

Clearing his throat Saitoh gestured for the boy to stand in front of the class, "This is Himura Kenshin. He moved here from Hokkaido. I'm sure he'll have lots of stupid questions so I want all of you to answer them for him." He pointed toward the crowd, "Kamiya raise your hand. Himura, take the seat next to her."

Kaoru rose her hand and frowned, Himura Kenshin? Why did that sound familiar? And why was this kid staring at her? She looked him over. He seemed like he didn't belong in a sea of black hair and brown eyes. His violet eyes wouldn't let hers go and it irked her.

What was up with the creeper gaze? That's when a smile split across his face. Then it donned on her. She knew that half-witted smile from anywhere. When he sat down in the seat next to her she turned with wide eyes.

She couldn't believe he was back, "Ken-chan."


End file.
